542 Detour Question

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
5,057
3,328
Pestletown, N.J.
I have been taking the 542 detours multiple times since Irene but haven't ventured down to see exactly which bridge or bridges are out.

I was headed down that way tomorrow to do some casual wood duckin' and was wondering if I can make it to the Pleasant Mills Church if I am headed east from Nesco.

Is the bridge over the Mullica just east of the church the one that is out or is it the smaller one over the Nescochague Lake feeder ? I do know that the crossing is out on the discharge from Nescochague by the old mill.

If I go past the barricades (Local Traffic Only) at the fork to Sweetwater and continue on 542 can I make it to the church parking lot ?

Thanks in advance.
 

turtle

Explorer
Feb 4, 2009
653
214
a village...in the pines
Scott,

Yes you can make it to PM church if you are traveling east from Nesco. The Mullica River Bridge is closed just at the end of the cemetery. The parking lot at the church is accessible.

PS - The contract to fix the roadway/bridge was awarded with the work to be done by end of February......
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
5,057
3,328
Pestletown, N.J.
Thanks Terry !
It has been a pain the last few months using the detour. It was really bad in the beginning with the bridge out at the airport as well.
 

dogg57

Piney
Jan 22, 2007
2,912
379
Southern NJ
southjerseyphotos.com
More photos on link below


http://home.comcast.net/~joestieber//Batsto.htm

Found this on the web
1_5429.JPG
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
5,057
3,328
Pestletown, N.J.
As it turns out, I changed my mind today and took the detour anyway. I decided to cross over Constable Bridge and hunt another area.
Before I went into the woods I checked out the bridge failure coming in from the east. The deck is completely intact but the west side has settled and there is a hole in the paving against the decking. I have been noticing substantial settlement in that area for the last 6 or 7 years as the bump it created almost tossed my wife off the back of my motorcycle a while back. It looks like the material against the culvert wall has been slowly piping for awhile and the storm just flushed it out completely.
 

Pine Baron

Explorer
Feb 23, 2008
480
25
Sandy Run
Judging from the photo, the county did a nice job setting up the Jersey barriers. They go from rail to rail. Some ;) have been known to bypass bridge detours like this on a motorcycle. Not this one, though.

John-
 
Jul 12, 2006
1,354
345
Gloucester City, NJ
As it turns out, I changed my mind today and took the detour anyway. I decided to cross over Constable Bridge and hunt another area.
Before I went into the woods I checked out the bridge failure coming in from the east. The deck is completely intact but the west side has settled and there is a hole in the paving against the decking. I have been noticing substantial settlement in that area for the last 6 or 7 years as the bump it created almost tossed my wife off the back of my motorcycle a while back. It looks like the material against the culvert wall has been slowly piping for awhile and the storm just flushed it out completely.

OH, is that the part of the road that's out, the part that has the wicked bump? That's the one where someone always spraypaints, "fix this bump" or something like that on the street.
 

turtle

Explorer
Feb 4, 2009
653
214
a village...in the pines
or something like that.........

My bet is on May completion (would love to be wrong). Another good idea would have been to re-pave the mile of Rt. 542 at the blueberry fields while the detour was up. Atlantic Co. will most likely wait for the bridge to be fixed and the road to open so they can close it again for paving.....
 
Jul 12, 2006
1,354
345
Gloucester City, NJ
My bet is on May completion (would love to be wrong). Another good idea would have been to re-pave the mile of Rt. 542 at the blueberry fields while the detour was up. Atlantic Co. will most likely wait for the bridge to be fixed and the road to open so they can close it again for paving.....

I figured the reason it hasn't been paved up until this point is that the city, county, state was fighting on whose responsibility it is to maintain.
 
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